Parental Pay
(asked on 7th February 2022) - View Source
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of changes since 2010 in the relative value of the standard weekly rate of statutory maternity, paternity and shared parental leave pay compared to (a) the adult rate of National Living Wage, (b) women's median weekly earnings and (c) men's median weekly earnings.
Statutory parental pay is intended to provide a degree of earnings replacement to support parents in taking time off around the birth of their children. It has never been intended to completely replace employee earnings; they represent only a portion of the state-funded support available to new families in the first year of their child's life. Many employers choose to offer more generous contractual provisions. The Government welcomes this, though we believe such arrangements are a contractual matter best agreed between employers and employees.
The National Living Wage (NLW) was introduced in April 2016. Minimum wage increase recommendations are made to the Government by the independent Low Pay Commission considering a wide range of economic and labour market factors. The Government continues to set a minimum hourly wage, but remuneration over and above that rate, again, is a contractual matter between the employer and the employee.
The table below shows the standard rate of statutory parental payments, the NMW/NLW and median weekly earnings for women and men in each year since 2010.
Table 1: Standard rate of statutory parental payments, the NMW/NLW and median weekly earnings for women and men, 2010-11 to 2022-23.
Year | Statutory Payment Rate (Weekly) 1 | Adult NMW/NLW (Hourly) 3 | Female Average (median) Weekly Earnings4 | Male Average (median) Weekly Earnings4 |
2010-11 | £124.88 | £5.93 | £315.80 | £496.50 |
2011-12 | £128.73 | £6.08 | £313.20 | £493.00 |
2012-13 | £135.45 | £6.19 | £319.70 | £498.10 |
2013-14 | £136.78 | £6.31 | £327.20 | £507.80 |
2014-15 | £138.18 | £6.50 | £330.40 | £507.40 |
2015-16 | £139.58 | £6.70 | £337.10 | £517.50 |
2016-17 | £139.58 | £7.20 | £349.10 | £530.40 |
2017-18 | £140.98 | £7.50 | £358.30 | £540.60 |
2018-19 | £145.18 | £7.83 | £369.90 | £554.60 |
2019-20 | £148.68 | £8.21 | £388.10 | £574.90 |
2020-21 | £151.20 | £8.72 | £400.10 | £568.40 |
2021-22 | £151.97 | £8.91 | £420.10 | £594.10 |
2022-23 | £156.66 | £9.50 | N/A | N/A |
Notes
1. Statutory payments rates are the same across Statutory Maternity Pay, Statutory Paternity Pay and, since 2015/16, Statutory Shared Parental Pay. Statutory payments rates are updated each April using The Social Security Benefits Up-rating Order. The uprating is based on September CPI figures as published by the Office for National Statistics.
3. The NLW was introduced in April 2016. For earlier years the NMW rate for those aged 21 and over has been presented in the table, these rates came into effect in October each year.
4. Average weekly earnings are taken from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings as published by the Office for National Statistics based on a snapshot date. Earnings estimates are based on a pay period that covers a specific date in April each year.